Description

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, clippings, and other papers pertaining to Natalie Vivian Scott, a New Orleans journalist, author, and activist. Included are letters written during her service in a field hospital in World War I; papers documenting the New Orleans literary community of the 1920s; letters written during Scott's service with the Red Cross in World War II, and documents pertaining to Taxco, Mexico. There are letters to Martha G. Robinson, and a letter from Ruth McEnery Stuart. The collection includes a condolence letter from Lyle Saxon to Scott on the death of her brother Nauman in 1926, and William Spratling's portrait of John Dos Passos, signed by artist and subject.

Arrangement Note

The collection is arranged chronologically by topic. The collection consists of 15 boxes and 3 oversize folders. It is 10 linear feet.

Biographical / Historical

Natalie Vivian Scott was born on July 18, 1890 in Bristol, Virginia, to Nathaniel Craves Scott and Martha Vivian Fauver. The family moved to New Orleans, where her father worked as a railroad contractor. Natalie Scott graduated from Newcomb College in 1909, and continued her studies there, earning a Master's degree in 1914, writing her thesis on Zuripidos, Seneca, and Corneille. During World War I, she served with the Red Cross in a field hospital in France, then returned to New Orleans with the intent of becoming a journalist. She wrote a society column for the New Orleans States, as well as news stories about such topics as the murder trial of Andrew J. Whitfield in 1920. She associated with the literary group that centered in the French Quarter. Its more notable members included William Faulkner, Sherwood Anderson, Lyle Saxon, and William Spratling. Through her collaboration with Spratling, Scott became interested in Mexico. She made her first trip there in the late 1920s and moved there in 1930. During World War II, Scott rejoined the Red Cross, seeing North Africa, Germany, and the Phillipines, returning later to Mexico and New Orleans. She created a day nursery in Taxco, Mexico; the building was named in her honor. She died November 18, 1957, and is buried in Taxco.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to the public. No known restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Louisiana Research Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.